The Williams College Ephs (8-14-2, 5-10-1 NESCAC) were defeated by the #7 ranked Middlebury College Panthers (14-6-4, 10-3-3 NESCAC) by a score of 4-1 in the first round of the NESCAC tournament earlier today.
By the Numbers
- The Ephs were 1/3 on the power play while the Panthers were 0/2.
- The Ephs' Erin Pye recorded 35 saves, and the Panthers' Sophia Will recorded 26 saves.
- The Panthers won the face-off battle by a tally of 33-26.
Game Recap
- The Panthers opened the scoring in today's contest about two minutes into the game. From the right side of the cage, Kylie Quinton fired the puck over to Rachel Neyman, who flicked a wrist shot past Pye to give the Panthers a 1-0 advantage (2:09).
- A little before halfway through the first period, the Ephs Leah Rubinshteyn came down through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone for the Ephs, firing a shot off from the crease that was saved by Sophia Will.
- The Panthers started the second period with offensive gusto as well, scoring less than two minutes into the period. First-year defender Callia Ferraris recovered the loose puck behind the net, found forward Kate Flynn in the crease, and the Panthers brought their lead up to 2-0 (1:27).
- The Ephs found themselves on their first power play opportunity of the afternoon with five minutes left in the second period. Katie Armstrong recovered a loose puck alone in the high slot, and she fired a wrist shot past Will to cut the lead down to 2-1 (15:03).
- The Panthers' Britt Nawrocki fired a pass off to Liv Fernandez for the one timer attempt, but Pye showed up big for the Ephs with a pad save.
- Kicking off the third period action, the Ephs' Rubinshteyn came down the right side of the ice in a two-on-one opportunity, and fired a shot off on net that was saved by Will.
- The Panthers went on their first power play opportunity of the afternoon a little over halfway through the third period. The Ephs held strong, and prevented the Panthers from growing their lead (12:44).
- Rachel Neyman scored her second goal of the night from the crease, bringing the Panthers' advantage to 3-1 early in the third period. (3:29).
- As as Eph power play expired, the Panthers found themselves in their offensive zone with the puck. Sabrina Kim found Kate Flynn in the crease, and Flynn scored to increase the Panthers' lead to 4-1 (8:43).
- The Ephs pulled Pye and Claire Murphy was able to rattle off a good shot attempt on net, but Will denied the chance.
After the game, Ephs' Head Coach Megan Gillis remarked, "I just want to say thank you to all our seniors and their families for what they gave to this program."
